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1.13    PaOPIC    STUiET, 

SWOKtYH,  N.  y. 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 


AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  DENTAL  SCIENCE, 


TWENTY-FOURTH   ANNUAL  MEETING, 


BOSTON,    NOVEMBER    II,     1 89 1. 


BV 

GEORGE     S.    ALLAN,    D.D.S., 

of  Nev)   York. 


BOSTON : 

Press    of    Rockwell    and    Churchill. 
1892. 


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ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 


AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  DENTAL  SCIENCE, 


TWENTY-FOURTH  ANNUAL  MEETING, 


BOSTON,    NOVEMBER    II,     1891. 


BY 

GEORGE     S.    ALLAN,    D.D.S., 

of  Neiv   York. 


BOSTON : 

Press    of    Rockwell    and    Churchill. 
1892. 


248  BoYLSTON  St.,  Boston,  Nov.  16,  1891. 
George  S.  Allan,  D.D.S.,  5/  Wesi  sjth  St.,  New  York: 

My  dear  Doctor  :  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  at  the  twenty- 
fourth  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Academy  of  Dental  Science,  held  in 
Boston,  Nov.  11,  1S91,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Academy  be  presented  to  Dr.  Allan  for  his 
very  able  and  instructive  address,  and  that  a  copy  be  requested  for  publication 
and  for  preservation  among  the  records  of  the  Acade:ny. 
Sincerely  hoping  that  you  will  comply  with  this  request, 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

.  E.  N.  HARRIS, 

Corresponding  Secretary. 


51  West  37TH  St.,  New  York,  Feb.  8,  1892. 

My  bear  Doctor  :  Permit  me  to  reply  to  your  kind  note  of  November  16, 
and  acknowledge  the  compliment  contained  therein,  and  to  thank  your  society 
for  their  over-appreciation  of  my  efforts  in  their  behalf,  as  well  as  for  their 
pleasant  way  of  showing  the  same. 

I  trust  the  Academy  will  forgive  me  for  my  long  delay  in  forwarding  my  ad- 
dress for  publication.  I  hoped  to  have  revised  and  rewritten  it,  but  have  been 
forced  to  give  up  the  idea  by  the  pressure  of  other  duties  and  none  too  much 
strength. 

The  subject  I  had  the  honor  of  presenting  to  you  ought  to  have  been  handled 
by  abler  hands  than  mine,  for  it  appears  to  me  that  the  future  welfare  of  our 
calling  depends  much  on  the  way  in  which  they  may  receive  and  act  upon  it.  Of 
course,  all  I  claim  is  to  have  turned  a  side-light  on  a  subject  with  which  we  are 
all  only  too  familiar. 

In  the  hope  that  good  may  come  from  it,  I  cheerfully  accede  to  your  request 
for  a  copy  of  my  address  for  publication,  and  herewith  transmit  a  copy  for  that 
purpose. 

Thanking  you  personally  for  your  kindness  and  forbearance,  and  with  best 
wishes  for  the  continued  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Dental  Science, 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

GEO.  S.  ALLAN. 

Dr.    E.    N.    Harris,   Corresponding    Secretary  American  Academy  Dental 
Sciettce. 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.   President    and    Genile?nen,.  of  the   American    Academy   of  Dental 
Science  :\ 

In  responding  to  the  kind  invitation  to  be  present  with  you  this  evening 
and  take  a  part  in  your  annual  festivities,  I  wish  first  to  congratulate  you 
on  the  many  evidences  of  strong  vitality  and  growth  I  see  in  your  society  j 
and,  second,  to  thank  you  for  the  compliment  you  have  extended  to  me. 
Boston  has  treated  me  so  kindly  and  well  these  many  years  that  I  feel 
much  at  home  with  you,  and  rejoice  at  the  opportunity,  under  such  pleas- 
ant auspices,  of  again  meeting  so  many  old  friends  and  in  the  hope  of 
making  some  new  ones. 

But  it  has  been  a  puzzle  to  know  what  to  write  about.  Though  this  is 
a  dental  meeting,  the  conditions  are  such  as  not  to  warrant  a  purely  dental 
subject.  You  have  thrown  off  your  yoke  in  coming  here  this  evening,  and, 
like  school-boys  on  a  lark,  expect  to  be  entertained,  or  at  least,  want  to  be. 
But  I  cannot  tell  stories  even  moderately  well,  and  never  could  crack  a 
joke.     Hence  my  dilemma. 

But  it  occurred  to  me  I  might  take  a  middle  course,  or  rather  a  side 
issue,  and  set  you  thinking  on  one  of  the  topics  of  the  day  and  its  bear- 
ings on  our  specialty,  and  so  win  my  way  to  your  good  graces  and  my 
dinner  at  the  same  time.  This  I  will  try  to  do.  Bear  with  me  patiently, 
and  remember  this  is  something  of  a  maiden  effort  in  this  direction. 

In  the  current  literature  of  the  day,  magazines,  newspapers,  etc.,  to  say 
nothing  about  the  more  weighty  matter  found  in  book  form,  nothing  is 
more  common  than  to  see  allusions  to  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  and  they 
are  mostly  in  a  way  to  indicate  that  the  reading  and  thinking  public  are  more 
or  less  familiar  with  its  meaning ;  in  fact,  have  incorporated  it  with  their 
every-day  knowledge  of  facts  and  principles.  In  ordinary  conversation,  the 
technical  terms  pertaining  to  the  doctrine  are  frequent  and  well  understood. 


In  truth,  a  vast  literature  on  the  subject  has  sprung  up  in  these  modem 
days,  and  it  is  constantly  increasing  in  volume  and  power.  The  meaning 
of  it  all  is  that  a  great  law  of  nature  has  been  brought  to  light  and  is 
rapidly  being  unfolded  to  the  vision  of  all,  and  that  it  is  so  far-reaching  in 
its  applications  and  reveals  so  many  of  the  hitherto  considered  secrets  of 
nature,  telling  us  not  only  of  the  how  of  things,  but  of  the  necessity  that 
has  always  existed  that  things  must  be  done  in  just  such  a  manner,  that  it 
looks  as  if  we  had  at  last  grasped  a  great  fundamental  law  of  the  universe, 
one  that  was  in  force  from  the  beginning,  and  that  if  any  law  could  be 
said  to  have  antedated  another  law,  this  was  the  one  that  was  first  set  in 
motion.  There  is  no  question  but  that  it -has  taken  a  tremendous  hold  of 
the  human  intellect,  that  men  think  of  it  constantly,  and  use  it  more  and 
more  frequently  in  their  efforts  to  solve  the  secrets  of  the  world's  progress 
and  growth ;  and  it  is  certain  their  judgment  as  to  its  value  has  not  been 
misplaced,  and  so  it  comes  about  that  men,  women,  and  children  think  and 
talk  of  evolution. 

This  is  neither  the  time  nor  place  to  go  into  any  extended  analysis  of  the 
doctrine  in  general.  That  many  imperfectly  understand  its  significance 
and  misinterpret  its  meaning  is  true  enough ;  but  this  holds  true  of  the 
first  attempts  to  outline  all  newly  discovered  laws  or  truths.  Time  and 
thought,  as  a  rule,  correct  all  such  errors.  The  law  has  come  to  stay,  and 
so  universally  has  it  been  accepted,  and  so  completely  has  it  overcome 
opposition,  that  one  now  hears  but  little  said  against  it.  The  wonder  is 
that  it  has  obtained  so  strong  a  footing  in  so  short  a  time.  No  other 
great  law  or  theory  can  claim  so  much. 

But  I  must  come  to  my  text  and  its  application,  and  will  take  a  short 
cut.  Applying  this  doctrine  to  man,  the  statement  is  made  that  he  is  a 
resultant  of  two  factors,  powers,  or  agencies,  —  no  one  term  quite  fills  the 
bill,  —  viz.,  heredity  and  environment ;  and,  the  more  one  turns  this  pres- 
entation of  the  case  over  in  his  mind,  the  more  strongly  does  its  truth  appeal 
to  his  judgment  and  reason.  One  curious  phase  of  the  few  criticisms  that 
have  been  made  against  it  is  the  willingness  of  its  opponents  to  concede 
its  application  in  the  case  of  domestic  animals  and  plants,  denying,  at  the 
same  time,  its  force  when  applied  to  the  human  race.  I  never  appreciated 
the  comical  side  of  this  position  so  much  as. I  did  once  when  I  told  a  lady 
that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  was  an  animal.  She  indignantly  denied  my 
assertion,  and  took  great  offence.  I  do  not  look,  though,  for  any  of  you  to 
question  the  statement. 


In  order,  however,  to  give  point  to  my  final  argument,  you  will  permit 
me,  in  an  illustration  or  so,  to  point  out  the  drift  of  my  thoughts. 

First  let  me  say  that  the  law  holds  good  for  all  the  parts  that  go  to 
make  the  individual.  Mental,  moral,  and  physical  traits,  —  all  are  subject 
to  its  controlling  power. 

A  man  born  with  a  tendency  to  consumption  is  commonly  considered  a 
fated  man.  His  days  are  said  to  be  numbered,  and  his  friends  and  relations 
have  much  compassion  for  him.  But  science  says  no.  He  may  yet  live  his 
full  number  of  days  if  he  will  use  good  judgment  and  change  his  living- 
place  and  habits,  and  do  it  in  time ;  for  it  is  certain  that  unless  he  exposes 
himself  to  the  contagion  of  consumption,  and  takes  into  his  system  the  spe- 
cific germ  that  induces  the  disease,  he  will  escape  and  live  as  others  did. 
He  has  not  inherited  the  disease  itself,  only  a  condition  of  the  system 
which  makes  him  susceptible  to  it.  Somehow,  in  a  way  we  cannot  explain, 
the  bacillus  tuberculosis  finds  a  proper  and  good  soil,  and  flourishes  in 
the  lungs  and  other  organs  of  some,  whereas  it  would  die  outright  or  be 
smothered  in  another's.  So  he  must  change  his  environments  and  go 
where  the  germ  is  not  found,  and  where  the  conditions  of  life  are  such  as 
to  strengthen  the  system  in  its  natural  efforts  to  overcome  its  effects,  and 
destroy  them  in  case  any  have  obtained  a  lodgement  in  his  system.  So 
the  man  changes  his  environments  and  lives  his  natural  length  of  days. 
But,  if  this  is  a  true  statement,  so  also  is  the  opposite,  viz. :  Place  a 
non-susceptible  person  in  an  atmosphere  charged  with  tuberculous  germs 
and  let  him  breathe  it  constantly,  and,  sooner  or  later,  they  will  take  root 
and  flourish.  They  will  not  only 'do  this,  but  they  will  make  a  suitable  soil 
and  transmit  this  latter  to  their  descendants. 

But  the  law  holds  as  good  for  moral  and  mental  conditions  and  attributes. 
Place  the  intellectual  man  where  he  can  neither  meet  those  who  will  stimu- 
late his  mental  faculties,  obtain  free  access  to  books,  or  have  the  time 
and  opportunity  for  thought,  and  his  powers  will  soon  begin  to  fail ;  and 
likewise  the  man  of  low  intelligence  and  poor  mental  capacities  taken 
from  his  ancestors,  if  placed  where  such  as  he  has  will  be  stimulated  to 
new  growth  —  cultivated,  in  fact  —  may  be  made  to  develop  wonderfully, 
and  a  new  and  better  man  made  to  grow  out  of  the  old  one,  and  he  will 
transmit  to  his  descendants  the  newly  acquired  and  better  tendencies.  The 
truth  is  the  law  is  a  fundamental  law  of  hfe  and  matter  —  is  all-powerful 
and  constantly  operative.  Man  by  his  will-power  and  reason  can  modify 
its  action,  diminish  or  increase  its  power,  but  cannot  change  its  nature ; 


and  just  here  it  is  that  man's  supremacy  over  all  other  created  things  is 
most  apparent, 

Man  can  regulate,  change,  or  alter  his  surroundings,  and  with  them 
change  his  course  and  destiny,  and  — what  is  of  even  greater  importance  — 
change  the  destiny  and  course  of  his  descendants.  To  know  how  true  this 
last  statement  is,  turn  to  your  books  or  inquire  of  those  who  have  made  it 
a  study,  and  find  the  answer  as  to  how  hereditary  traits  and  characteristics 
are  developed  and  become  fixed,  and  as  to  their  all-powerful  influence  on 
the  individual.  If  any  of  you  have  not  thought  of  this,  or  thought  of  it  but 
little,  I  would  most  earnestly  commend  the  subject  to  you.  Nothing  is 
more  powerful  than  this  same  heredity,  whether  it  be  physical,  mental, 
or  moral  in  its  nature ;  nothing  more  marvellous  than  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  acquired,  grows,  and  maintains  its  influence.  A  physician  once  said 
to  me,  "It  is  hard  to  kill  a  man  who  comes  from  a  long-lived  race,"  and 
he  spoke  the  truth ;  and  just  as  true  is  it  that  as  a  rule  the  man  of  strong 
mental  grasp  and  power,  and  the  man  whose  moral  instincts  are  a  gift  from 
his  parents'  blood,  will  fight  gallantly  against  adverse  conditions,  and  will  be 
an  intellectual  or  a  moral  man,  or  both,  to  the  end.  Well  may  we  believe, 
then,  that  heredity  and  environments  are  the  twin-brothers  that  rule,  for 
weal  or  for  woe,  the  destinies  of  all. 

But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  our  specialty  of  dentistry?  Let  us  see. 
But  first  let  me  say  that  the  law  is  cumulative  in  its  action,  and  applies 
with  equal  power  to  masses  and  numbers  when  viewed  as  units. 

Whence  comes  dentistry,  and  where  was  its  birthplace  ?  I  do  not  know. 
Some  might  say  that  it  came  from  nowhere  and  never  was  born,  but,  like 
Topsy,  it  "grew"  only.  But  I  think  differently.  Ideas,  principles,  and 
laws  may  be  said  to  have  always  existed,  and  wait  only  on  discovery  to  re- 
veal themselves ;  but  their  transmutation  into  callings  for  man's  edification, 
growth,  or  enjoyment  is  another  affair.  Necessity  has  truly  been  said  to 
be  the  mother  of  invention,  but  what  is  invention  but  a  controlling  and 
directing  of  matter  and  law  into  new  channels  and  for  new  purposes? 
Every  invention  is  a  new  birth,  and  so  is  every  calling,  only  they  do  not 
come  into  life  so  suddenly.  The  time  element  has  far  more  to  do  with 
them.  They  come,  as  the  rivers  and  streams  come,  from  little  beginnings, 
and  from  sources  far  distant  and  far  separated  from  one  another.  Dentistry 
may  be  said  to  have  been  born  of  human  distress  and  pain,  and  conceived 
by  human  intelHgence  and  ingenuity.  The  new-born,  for  many  years  and 
ages,  was  insignificant  in  size  and  appearance,  and  attracted  no  attention  — • 


so  little  that  its  presence  among  us  passed  unnoticed,  and  we  have  only 
known  that  it  lived  since  it  arrived  at  maturity.  A  like  statement  can  be 
made  of  medicine  in  general,  but  I  doubt  if  any  of  you  can  much  extend 
the  list. 

Without  going  into  the  question  of  the  relations  of  dentistry  to  medicine 
in  general  in  any  detailed  manner,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  emphasize 
the  above  statement  of  their  common  origin  and  heritage,  and  show  how, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  I  am  one  of  those  who 
believe  in  claiming  everything  for  my  profession  that  belongs  to  it,  and  see 
no  reason  why  I  should  abate  my  demands  in  the  slightest  on  any  senti- 
mental considerations.  But,  to  be  frank,  most  of  this  discussion  as  to  our 
proper  position  has  seemed  to  me  to  be  very  foolish  and  absurd.  It  is  totally 
uncalled-for  and  unwarranted  by  the  facts  as  we  find  them.  In  a  late 
periodical  I  find  this  quotation  from  a  speech  by  Professor  W.  D.  Miller, 
of  Berlin  :  "  At  the  same  time,  physicians  as  well  as  dentists  recognize  the 
fact  that  medicine  rests  upon  common  ground  with  dentistry,  and  it  would  be 
as  impossible  to  separate  medicine  from  dentistry  as  to  separate  the  human 
mouth  from  the  alimentary  tract."  This  is  a  statement  the  strength  and 
truth  of  which  few  of  you,  I  think,  will  care  to  question. 

My  belief  is  that  the  heredity  —  parentage  —  argument  is,  in  itself,  un- 
answerable. Applying  this  argument  to  the  two  professions,  calling  them 
two  simply  for  the  sake  of  argument,  and  we  find  that  they  differ  simply 
in  degree  and  in  degree  only.  A  part  of  the  body  fails  in  some  way  to  do 
its  work.  It  shows  weakness  or  eccentricity  in  its  character  or  action,  and 
straightway  man  sets  to  work  to  discover  the  cause  and  apply  a  remedy. 
Grouping  all  these  abnormal  conditions  and  their  treatment  together,  and 
we  have  the  science  of  medicine.  Separating  any  one  part  from  the  whole, 
and  we  have  a  specialty.  It  is  probably  true  that  all  specialties  have  had 
an  independent  origin.  The  practice  of  surgery  and  that  of  the  oculist 
certainly  did,  but  as  they  grew  they  sought  and  found  their  common  home. 
The  same  is  true  of  dentistry ;  but  if  it  has  failed  to  seek  its  fountain-head 
and  drink  freely  of  its  waters,  it  is  because  of  errors  in  judgment  and 
comprehension  on  the  part  of  those  who  practise  it,  or  more  likely  because 
it  is  bulky  and  so  largely  dependent  on  the  mechanic  arts.  The  dental 
materia  medica  is,  indeed,  limited,  but  not  more  so  than  it  is  in  the 
practice  of  the  orthopedist  or  the  oculist.  By  the  term  bulky  I  mean  the 
number  of  those  engaged  in  its  practice. 

But  the  point  I  wish  to  impress  on  your  minds,  which  I  desire  you  to 


take  home  with  you  and  think  over,  and  which  really  was  the  impelling 
motive  that  prompted  me  to  appear  before  you,  remains  to  be  presented. 
The  two  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  theory  of  evolution  as  it  relates  to  life 
I  stated  to  you  as  being  those  of  heredity  and  environments.  They  indeed 
do  not  cover  the  whole  ground,  but  they  alone  are  the  ones  I  wish,  in  my 
short  time,  to  refer  to.  Heredity  I  have  touched  upon  :  now  I  would  do 
the  same  as  regards  environments. 

Individuals,  classes,  nations,  are  beset  by,  controlled,  fashioned,  by  their 
environments.  The  law  is  far-reaching  in  its  effects,  and  holds  in  its  grasp 
the  destinies  of  all.  Few  there  are  who  rightly  measure  its  power  and 
influence.  It  takes  each  one  of  you  gentlemen  in  hand,  and  moulds  and 
fashions  you  as  a  potter  does  his  clay,  but  it  works  so  quietly  and  gradu- 
ally that  you  are  mostly  ofif  your  guard,  and  forget  your  power  and  duty  in 
controlUng  your  own  destinies  by  changing  and  directing  your  personal 
environments.  Will-power  and  strength  of  character  it  is  that  can  do  this, 
controlled  and  guided  by  moral  and  intellectual  aims  and  ambitions ;  and 
sad  indeed  is  the  thought  how  largely  these  factors  are  hereditary  in  their 
nature. 

But  as  I  said  just  now  in  regard  to  this  law,  that  which  holds  good  of 
individuals  holds  equally  good  when  applied  to  aggregations  of  individuals, 
such  as  those  which  go  to  make  up  callings  or  communities ;  and  hence  it  is 
that  we,  as  dentists,  a  class  or  body  of  men  having  a  common  path  and 
purpose  in  life,  are  called  on  to  study  this  law,  to  examine  its  bearings  on 
our  professional  life  and  position,  and  see  what  we  can  do  as  a  class  to 
better  our  common  lot.  Our  heredity  we  cannot  change  :  our  environ- 
ments we  may  and  ought  to. 

It  seems  quite  probable  to  me  that  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  dear 
public  call  us  doctors,  natural  instinct  and  common  sense  classifying  us  as 
such,  we  occupying  a  negative  rather  than  a  positive  position,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  give  us  a  local  habitation  and  place  of  rest  amongst  the  world's 
workers.  We  have  some  of  the  characteristics  of  a  profession,  some  of 
the  artisan,  and  we  take  kindly  to  the  tradesman  and  his  ways,  and  alto- 
gether we  make  up  a  curious  compound  —  so  curious  that  the  individual, 
following  his  tastes  and  inclinations,  if  he  has  the  ability  can  locate  himself 
almost  where  he  will,  and  he  will  still  be  recognized  as  one  of  us  and 
as  being  in  good  standing ;  and  most  unfortunate  is  it  that  individual 
preferences  and  tastes  control  to  a  great  extent.  As  the  stream  will 
not  rise  higher  than  its  source,  so  it  is  that  the  calling  v/ill  not  demand 


a  place  higher  than  the  tastes  and  ambitions  of  the  units  that  compose 
it.  Many  there  are  who  wish  to  occupy  a  more  commanding  and  assured 
position^  but  are  held  back  by  the  traditions,  the  teachings,  and  the 
"vis  inertia^^  of  the  mass  to  which  they  belong.  But  I  firmly  believe 
that  the  dawn  of  a  better  day  is  at  hand,  and  that  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances alone  will  drive  us  to  assert  ourselves  when  other  and  more 
natural  means  may  fail.  Like  the  streams  from  the  same  fountain-head, 
the  greater  and  the  lesser,  when  united  in  a  common  bed,  will  flow 
together  and  mingle  their  waters  in  a  common  whole.  We  cannot  take 
a  course  side  by  side  with  the  mother-stream  of  medicine  and  keep  our- 
selves afloat,  and  so,  willy-nilly,  we  must  follow  our  destiny. 

But  some  will  say  that,  if  this  must  be,  why  trouble  ourselves  about  the 
matter?  Why  not  close  our  eyes  and  let  the  stream  carry  us  wheresoever 
it  will  ?  We  are  bound  to  come  out  right,  anyway.  So  I  would  say,  were  it 
not  for  one  thing.  The  streams  are  not  yet  united,  and  are  kept  from  so 
doing  by  artificial  restraints  and  obstructions ,  and  a  constant  effort  is  being 
made  by  well-intentioned  men  to  force  our  little  stream  to  one  side  and  mark 
out  for  it  an  independent  course  and  channel.  Time,  under  the  control- 
ling power  of  natural  law,  will  surely,  in  the  end,  prevent  this,  but  long 
delays  may  ensue,  and  the  proper  growth  and  dignity  of  our  calling  suffer 
thereby ;  so  it  is  wise  for  us  to  study  the  situation,  and  see  if  we  cannot 
hasten  the  day  when  our  position  will  be  assured,  and  our  title  cease  to 
convey  a  false  impression. 

Hence  it  is  that  I  bring  forcibly  to  your  notice,  and  would  compel  your 
attention  to,  the  power  of  environments  in  shaping  our  destiny,  and  of  our 
ability  to  order  them  for  our  common  good. 

Just  here  it  would  seem  as  though  I  might  close  and  let  the  suggestion 
alone,  working  on  your  minds,  do  its  work,  so  clearly  and  distinctly  must 
it  point  out  the  path  we  should  pursue.  What  we  want  to  be  we  surely 
can  be,  and  only  our  own  obstinacy  and  perverseness  can  delay  the  full 
fruition  of  our  desires. 

But  I  will  complete  my  picture,  taking  it  for  granted  that  none  of  you 
want  to  occupy  a  lower  position  among  the  occupations  of  the  world  than 
is  necessary,  any  more  than  you  would  willingly  take  a  lower  social 
one,  and  that  you  all  know  that  the  two  positions  are  mutually  related  to, 
and  dependent  in  a  great  measure  on,  each  other.  I  will  tell  you,  in  as 
few  words  as  possible,  what  I  think  we  ought  to  do,  and  do  at  once  and 
with  all   our  might.      We  must  seek  for,    a7id  rest   not   till  we   obtain^ 


10 

recognition  as  being  doctors ;  and  to  do  that  we  must  be  doctors  not  only 
in  name,  but  in  fact.  The  diploma  must  tell  no  lie,  and  should  not 
convey  a  partial  truth. 

The  environments  we  should  seek,  then,  are  those  which  stand 
ready  at  hand ;  and  there  is  no  danger  of  our  seeking  in  vain.  The  com- 
munity will  not  estimate  us  beyond  our  own  valuation.  We  should,  then, 
place  our  valuation  high,  and  go  where  we  belong.  The  community  just 
now,  I  fancy,  only  gives  us  the  title  of  doctors.  They  do  not  think  of  us 
as  being  genuine  except  in  part,  and  communities  generally  estimate  men 
and  callings  about  right. 

The  degree  of  M.D.  —  and  how  fiinny  that  of  D.D.S.  or  M.D.S.  sounds  in 
the  light  of  facts  and  our  desires  ! —  means  a  great  deal.  Maybe  it  means 
too  much  for  us,  and  that  there  is  the  trouble,  or  one  trouble ;  but  it  does 
not  mean  more  than  it  ought  to.  It  means,  first,  a  liberal  education ;  it 
means  that  money-making  is  secondary  to  the  calls  of  humanity,  and  that 
the  laws  that  govern  barter  and  sale,  though  legally  just,  are  professionally 
wrong,  in  that  they  make  property  rights  of  the  means  of  prolonging  life 
and  alleviating  human  suffering.  In  these  respects  its  code  of  ethics  is 
superior  to  those  under  which  the  merchant  or  artisan  pursues  his  calling. 
The  true  physician  does  not  sell  things,  but  knowledge,  skill,  and 
judgment. 

It  has  been  said  that  if  a  man  cannot  harvest  the  fruits  of  invention  he 
will  not  invent,  but  will  give  his  time  and  attention  to  more  lucrative  work. 
The  history  of  medicine  and  surgery,  however,  disproves  this.  No  class  of 
men  in  the  world  invent  more  than  doctors.  Their  ambition  to  excel  and 
make  a  name  is  great,  and  they  get  their  reward  for  what  they  do  in  in- 
creased reputation  and  honor.  They  also  get  their  reward  in  dollars  and 
cents,  too ;  for  the  one  produces  the  other. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  those  who  take  the  non-professional  or  art  view 
of  our  specialty  would,  in  a  great  measure,  discard  a  code  of  ethics  en- 
tirely —  "  Facilis  descensus  Averni."  They  would  not  only  accept  the 
right  to  patent  and  permit  the  dentists  to  derive  a  profit  from  patents,  but 
would  open  wide  the  doors  to  the  trade  spirit  and  grant  the  privilege  to 
advertise  at  will,  and  so  break  down  all  the  barriers  that  lie  between  the 
doctor  and  the  merchant,  or  artisan.  All  the  arguments  used  for  the  one 
might  apply  very  equally  to  all.  It  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  non-professional  idea  and  its  sequences. 

Sitting  in  a  corner  one  evening  at  a  dental  meeting,  I  asked  myself  the 


11 

question,  How  many  of  those  present  make  anything,  or  want  to  make 
anything,  out  of  patients  ?  I  could  not  single  out  one ;  and  to  the  credit 
and  glory  of  our  calling  the  number  is  few  indeed,  and  daily  diminishing, 
of  those  who  would  add  to  their  income  in  this  questionable  manner.  The 
many,  though,  hear  the  cry  of  the  few,  but  have  not  the  courage  to  cast 
them  out. 

I  hold,  then,  that  the  degrees  of  D.D.S.  or  M.D.S.  are  misleading  and 
obstructive.  The  dentist  should  be  an  M.D.  His  studies  and  training 
should  be  the  same.  Only  in  this  way  can  he  obtain  a  title  clear  and  un- 
questioned, and  take  his  proper  place  amongst  the  world's  workers.  Only 
in  this  way  can  he  attain  his  just  ambitions  and  longings. 

We  know  our  heredity.  What  are  our  environments?  If  we  are  true 
to  ourselves  and  true  to  our  profession,  we  shall  seek  in  the  higher  and 
purer  atmosphere  just  within  our  reach,  a  home  and  a  life  fitted  to  make  us 
bigger  and  better  men,  and  our  brothers  and  the  public  will  extend  to  us 
a  hearty  welcome. 

It  may  be  advisable  to  say  a  word  or  so  in  relation  to  the  proper  method 
to  adopt  to  carry  out  the  suggestions  incorporated  in  this  paper ;  for  I 
would  not  have  you  think  that  this  most  important  part  of  my  subject  had 
been  overlooked,  or  that  I  had  deemed  it  of  less  importance  than  the 
idea  itself.  This  is  a  practical  age,  and  the  man  who  is  wholly  vision- 
ary must  take  a  back  seat,  and  let  other  and  more  wide-awake  men  take 
charge  of  the  car  of  progress.  If,  however,  we  can  couple  the  vision  of 
the  future  with  the  movement  of  the  day,  our  time  will  not  have  been 
wasted. 

Holding  fully  as  I  do  to  the  statement  of  fact  that  dentistry  is  simply  a 
specialty  of  medicine  and  cannot  be  divorced  from  it,  and  that  in  no  case 
can  the  part  be  made  greater  than  the  whole,  but  that  the  more  closely 
the  part  is  cemented  to  or  incorporated  into  the  body  of  the  whole,  so 
much  greater  will  be  its  strength  and  power,  for  it  must  take  both  from  the 
parent  body,  —  I  see  just  as  plainly  as  any  of  you  the  pecuhar  conditions 
with  which  we  are  surrounded,  and  which  would  seem  to  imply  that  we 
might,  could,  would,  or  ought  to  be  a  body  separate  and  distinct  by  our- 
selves. I  see,  as  you  do,  that  we  need  a  special  and  distinct  training, 
that  a  large  or  exhaustive  study  of  anatomy,  physiology,  or  therapeutics  is 
not  needed  to  prepare  the  dentist  for  his  work,  and  prepare  him  fairly  well 
too.  I  know  that  our  work  is  largely  mechanical,  demanding  a  knowledge 
of  instruments,  and  tools,  and  the  artisan's  skill  and  touch,  and  that  so 


12 

great  is  the  demand  for  our  services  that  in  numbers  we  approximate,  if 
we  do  not  equal,  those  who  devote  themselves  to  the  general  practice  of 
medicine.  I  know  and  see  all  this,  and  give  them  all  due  weight ;  but 
I  say,  when  all  is  granted  and  all  summed  up  and  allowed,  the  essential 
fact  remains  unaltered,  unaffected,  and  just  as  immovable  as  ever.  Our 
specialty  is  a  specialty  only,  and  our  best  good  demands  that  we  take 
our  proper  position  in  the  body  we  belong  to. 

But  I  must  hasten  to  a  close  and  answer  the  questions,  How  are  our  special 
wants  to  be  met  when  the  D.D.S.,  the  D.M.D.,  etc.,  are  dropped  and  the 
simple  M.D.  takes  their  place  ?  How  are  we  to  avoid  taking  in  study  and 
preparation  the  great  mass  the  doctor  needs  and  we  do  not  need  ?  and, 
further,  how  are  we  to  obtain  the  special  training  that  our  calling  demands 
and  must  have  to  fit  us  for  the  life  before  us  ? 

It  is  manifestly  unreasonable  to  ask  the  student  preparing  to  practise  as 
a  dentist  to  take  a  full  course  in  medicine  and  then  a  special  one  in  den- 
tistry. Few  indeed  could  devote  either  the  money  or  the  time  to  carry 
out  such  a  plan,  and  most  of  those  who  could  would  object  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  not  necessary ;  and  I  fully  believe  that  such  a  plan  never  could 
be  carried  out.  What  can  be  done,  and  successfully  too,  is  this  :  Let  the 
dental  student  take  so  much  of  the  essential  and  rudimentary  medical 
course  as  may  be  requisite,  and  later  on  take  his  special  course.  In  all 
our  great  universities  this  plan  and  principle  is  adopted,  and  the  student  is 
thus  enabled  to  fit  himself  for  his  special  work  and  obtain  full  value 
received  for  the  time  given  to  fitting  himself  for  his  life's  work.  At  some 
place  half-way  or  thereabout  the  course  of  study  becomes  elective,  and  the 
student  is  permitted  to  select  his  studies  with  special  reference  to  his  future 
life,  or  rather  choose  that  line  of  studies  that  has  been  marked  out  for 
that  purpose.  I  am  satisfied  that  few  objections  of  value  or  weight  can  be 
urged  against  the  plan,  and  that  our  medical  brothers  stand  ready  and 
willing  to  extend  a  helping  hand  in  carrying  it  out. 


«« 


Date  Due 

f) 

RK66 


A15 


Allan 


